The Future of Coal

As new, cleaner coal technologies are developed, coal is likely to remain an integral part of the nation’s overall power supply mix. The U.S. has more coal than any other country — by some estimates a 250-year supply. In recent years, concerns over air emissions created by the burning of coal have had made it more difficult to site new coal-fired power plants.
    Still, coal provides more than 50 percent of all electricity generated in the United States, and finding a replacement for such an important fuel would not be easy.  Even now, new coal-fired plants are being planned in Georgia. One new coal-fired plant is planned in Early County in southwest Georgia, and a consortium of 10 Electric Membership Corporations (EMCs), known as Power4Georgians, has announced plans to construct an 850-MW coal-fired plant in Washington County.
    Through various affiliations, Oglethorpe Power is supporting the development of cleaner and more efficient coal technologies, as well as more effective methods for sequestering the carbon dioxide that many believe contributes to global climate change.